Of the quartet of aging Death Eaters—the "old, weak, sick, and disabled" as Tom might have called them—only Lucas and the eldest, Tobias, possessed power rivaling that of an Auror, and relatively strong ones at that.
The other two, Ivo and Emil, were significantly stronger than the average wizard but could barely defend themselves against a trained Auror. After all, Aurors were hardly pushovers; they were elites, hand-picked, with only a few dozen serving in a country's Ministry of Magic.
As for Isolde, he did possess the strength of an elite Auror; otherwise, the four would have quietly disposed of him long ago. Unfortunately, Isolde was currently indisposed, leaving them to fend for themselves. Under different circumstances, they might have even considered patching things up with him. The situation was, admittedly, rather precarious.
Fleur, a recent graduate, was already displaying Auror-level strength. Assisted by Hermione and Luna, she steadily pushed Tobias back, even while he was fighting three opponents at once.
Ivo, meanwhile, was being harassed by Malfoy. Without the Sword of Gryffindor, Malfoy wasn't quite as terrifying as Harry, but he was still a formidable opponent. Ivo knew he couldn't defeat the boy, especially with his limp and his limited ability to Apparate.
There was only one option left...
"Lucas, save me!"
"Lucas, help me!"
"..."
Distracted by the cries of Ivo and Tobias, Lucas narrowly avoided being eviscerated by Harry's sword.
Seething with frustration, Lucas felt a surge of rage and cursed under his breath. "Help! Help! Are they all this useless?! Can't they even beat these brats?!"
He conveniently forgot his own earlier pleas for assistance. He couldn't believe this boy was chasing him with a sword. What kind of respectable wizard behaves like this?!
"Stop running and face me!"
"What in Merlin's name are you?!"
Lucas desperately wanted to know what properties the wretched sword possessed. It had completely negated Emil's magic. Even though Lucas's own magic hadn't been completely nullified, it had been weakened significantly, reducing the threat he posed to the relentless Harry.
You've rendered a wizard's magic ineffective... are you kidding me?!
Lucas was being chased and hacked at by Harry to the point of near insanity.
Harry, having just crippled Ivo, was now relentlessly pursuing Lucas. He was single-handedly taking on two of the "old, weak, sick, and disabled" quartet; he was performing like a god.
...
Ivo, fresh from his cries for help, was stunned to hear Tobias also calling for reinforcements.
Capitalizing on the distraction, Malfoy swung a baseball bat into Ivo's uninjured leg. "You dare to lose focus while fighting me?! You cripple, watch me break your other leg too!"
"Ah—!"
Ivo, writhing in agony, could no longer stand on either leg. He collapsed to the ground, paralyzed from the waist down, overcome by searing pain.
Living amongst wizarding nobles, who had little to no concept of "caring for the disabled," Malfoy pressed his advantage, bringing the bat down on Ivo's head.
If that blow had landed squarely, Ivo's head would have likely exploded like a watermelon—making him beyond even the capability of artificial flavoring to revive.
Ivo stared wide-eyed at the descending baseball bat, his survival instincts kicking in. He gritted his teeth and Apparated away.
With a resounding "bang," the bat crashed into the ground, leaving a sizable crater.
"Oh?"
Malfoy turned toward the direction of Ivo's abrupt departure, a sinister grin spreading across his trembling face. "So what if you ran? You've lost a leg; how are you going to walk? On your buttocks?"
"..."
Ivo, now seated on the ground, looked deathly pale. He didn't dare retaliate. Though he hated to admit it, he was simply no match for this precocious young brat.
Prolonging this engagement would likely result in his agonizing demise.
Ivo was seriously contemplating retreat. The streets of Paris were unlikely to be protected by Anti-Apparition Charms; if he wanted to leave, nothing could stop him.
But the thought of his "master" made him hesitate. Fleeing would likely result in his summary execution at the Dark Lord's own hands.
The great Dark Lord had no need for cowardly followers!
Ivo grit his teeth, reluctantly Apparating to dodge Malfoy's next attack.
...
Tobias, having just heard Ivo's desperate cries for help, instinctively glanced over his shoulder.
A blazing fireball surged towards him, nearly burning him bald. As it was, most of his beard was incinerated, which, to Tobias, who had cultivated his beard for years, was worse than going bald.
He raged that he wanted to kill the three brats but was quickly brought back to reality by a barrage of spells.
Was he mad? Did he not realize who he was up against?
Fleur, the Triwizard Tournament champion who had overwhelmed all the students at Beauxbatons, now boasting strength rivaling that of a seasoned Auror.
Luna, who had mastered the Patronus Charm in less time than Harry and demonstrated an astonishing aptitude for Defense Against the Dark Arts.
And then there was Hermione. Did he really think she was just a bookworm simply because he'd heard her derisively called "Miss Know-It-All"?
Hermione's legendary feat of surviving seven years alongside Harry and Ron was no laughing matter!
Bolstered by Tom's ancient runes, her magical skill was not far behind Cassandra's, who Tom personally had tutored.
If it weren't for her relatively limited magical reserves, Hermione could have single-handedly defeated Tobias.
Even though Hermione and her two companions had never formally trained as a team, their combat talents were all quite impressive.
One focused on damage output, one on distraction, and the other adapting and controlling the situation—dealing both damage and providing support—they almost beat the old man Tobias to a pulp.
Hermione had just used the Shattered Bones spell to blast Tobias away from the shelves when she was immediately counterspelled with a Freezing Charm, followed by a Fire Charm infused with a Disarming Charm.
"..."
Tobias didn't want to speak; he wanted to cry.
If he hadn't possessed some skill in wandless spellcasting, he would have exploded long ago.
Scalded and battered, Tobias, still reeling from the assault, reached out towards the wand that had been dislodged from his grasp.
He shouted, "Wand..."
"Accio wand!"
Huh???
Tobias stared wide-eyed, hardly believing what he was witnessing as his wand flew away from him at an even greater speed, directly into Hermione's outstretched hand.
"..."
Okay, now it's really over.
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